Apparatus for practicing putting



March 15, 1938. E, W. T. TRANGMAR APPARATUS FOR PRACTICING PUTTING Filed Sept. 28, 1936 ,ZI'a/en Z01:

4 TTOR/Vf Y Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Edgar William Tanner Trangmar, Brighton, England Application September 28, 1936, Serial No. 102,953 In Great Britain January 23, 1936 1 Claim.

My present invention relates toapparatus by means of which skill and/or entertainment can be derived in the propulsion of a ball by a golf putter. The present invention is useful as an adjunct to golf club houses, fairs, gardens and elsewhere appropriate to the use of practicing or skill exhibiting apparatus in which a golf ball is not to be driven with any considerable force, and the chief object of my invention. is to provide an appliance in which accuracy in the propulsion of a ball along a predetermined path, as in golf putting, can be acquired. Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus particularly suitable for practicing golf putting and which enables a person to stand in the appropriate stance and play in succession a plurality of balls along a surface simulating part of a putting green but predetermined to require a high degree of accuracy in directing the ball towards the hole, and also in which a plurality of balls can be readily available for successive playing.

According to this invention apparatus for practicing putting comprises a longitudinal box like casing having an upper part constituted by a playing surface, the cross section of which contains a crest and downwardly directed sides, a ball striking area at the lower end of said surface, a hole in the upper end of the playing surface and in the highest part of the cross section of said surface, the said sides terminating at longitudinal side walls, and the playing surface being inclined upwardly in the driving direction to the end containing the said hole, means being provided for returning the ball after it has passed through said hole or after it has rolled against said side walls to a collecting device at the driving end.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect I have appended hereto a sheet of drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof and wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view with part of one side broken away to expose part of the ball returning device.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective View of a register or counter for indicating the delivery of balls into a hole.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation view of a dial of the register or counter showing a means of returning it to a zero indicating position, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation of the apparatus showing the contour of the playing surface.

Referring to the drawing the apparatus shown comprises a shallow oblong frame I adapted to be laid on the floor and accommodating a sheet of plywood 2, sheet metal or other suitable material which is bowed transversely to provide a longitudinal centre crest 3 (see Fig. 4) the said sheet being covered with green baize, felt, thin sheet rubber or other suitable material 4. Near one end of the frame a hole 5 is provided in the crest of the playing surface, and near the other end a ball playing zone is provided, a suitable point e. g. a spot or disc 6 on the crest in such zone preferably being marked to indicate a striking point.

The said frame has slight angle slope upwards from the playing end, or as shown from a point between the playing end and the hole 5, the playing surface being correspondingly sloped but disposed slightly beneath the upper edges of the frame whereby balls driven up the slope and not entering the hole will roll into the gulleys forming the junction of the boundary edges of the playing surface and the said walls. The upper end of the frame is preferably bowed as at l in order to direct the balls into the said gulleys when the balls pass the hole. Balls returning down the gulleys can fall through a hole 8 in the lower ends of the gulleys and be collected in a suitable tray 9 which can be removed when required, if desired with the aid of a suitable coin freed mechanism. It is preferred to give a visual indication as to the number of balls driven into the hole, and for this purpose a box lil can be fitted at the upper end of the frame having a window H in which numbers can be changed by the weight of the balls falling through the hole 5, any of the known suitable mechanisms for using the weight of balls to effect the change of numbers being employed, the mechanism being adapted to be reset by hand at the completion of a predetermined number of strokes by a player. A suitable mechanism comprises a depending tube [2 fixed beneath the said hole and adapted to guide the ball downwards. Extending transversely through a slot in the tube is one end of a substantially horizontal lever l3 fulcrumed between its ends. The other end of the lever is fitted with a short depending leaf spring M which serves as an abutment against which successively engage a plurality of pins I5 arranged at equi-distant intervals in a circular path on a disc, 16 rotatable on a horizontal axis. A coiled clock spring H (see Fig. 3) is adapted to rotate the disc, and the arrangement is such that when a ball drops on to one end of the said lever [B the lever rocks downwardly at such end to release the ball and upwards at its other end to move the said leaf spring away from the pin 15 engaging it, the lever being so counterbalanced or lightly spring loaded as to resume its normal position quickly, the amount of time of movement being such as to only permit the said coiled spring I! to rotate the disc through the small angle contained between an adjacent pair of said pins. The disc I6 is formed on one face with a sequence of numbers as shown in Fig. 2 which are brought successively in front of the window II in the box Ill visible at the upper end of the playing surface. A cord l9 for pulling the disc back to indicate nought" can be carried over pins 20 on the rear face of the disc, the said leaf spring l4 yielding to the rotation of pins l past it under the pull of said cord.

It is preferred to provide at one or both sides of the striking or lower end of the playing surface a shallow platform 2| on which the player can stand, this platform preferably having a rubber mat. Where a single platform is provided it may take the form of a short legged stool which can be placed either side of the playing surface for use by right handed and left handed players. The balls can be accommodated in a single line in the narrow tray 9 which can be detachable and exchanged with a similar tray 9a when empty, supported upon a narrow elongated pedestal alongside or at the lower end of the playing surface.

In order to prevent the balls from coming off the back part 1 into the hole 5 an obstruction 22 can be provided immediately in rear of the hole. Also any suitable coin freed mechanism may be provided whereby a coin has to be inserted in a slot 23 for the purpose of releasing the tray or drawer 9. To prevent a ball returning down a longitudinal side of the playing surface from being collected by a player for a second use, baffies or overhanging ledges 24 can be fitted along the upper edge of the side walls. A back net 25 prevents balls from being driven off the playing surface.

What I claim is:-

An apparatus for practicing putting, comprising a playing surface having a straight longitudinally inclined peak along which the ball is to be projected and substantially symmetrically outwardly downwardly inclined parts at opposite sides of said peak, a hole in the peak at the upper end of the playing surface, a striking surface at the other end of the playing surface, upstanding longitudinal side walls towards which the playing surface inclines downwardly and outwardly to provide in conjunction with the side walls, chutes for returning the balls to the striking end, inwardly projecting ledges on the upper edges of the side walls to prevent access to the balls returning after playing, a removable tray in the striking end of the playing surface into which pass the balls passing down said chutes, a curved upper end wall joining said side walls, and an obstruction between said end wall and said hole to prevent balls from rebounding off the end wall into the hole.

EDGAR WILLIAM TANNER TRANGMAR. 

